Garment hanger

ABSTRACT

A garment hanger is disclosed which includes two oppositely directed hanger hooks. The hooks are biased in overlapping condition so that the hanger will not be pulled from the rod as an incident to removal of adjacent hangers and which cannot be jostled off of the rod on which it is placed. A biasing arrangement urges the hooks to overlapping relationship and a means is provided for overcoming that bias to move the hooks apart so that it can be installed on and removed from a rod by a vertical movement. In preferred form the hanger is made of wire which has sufficient resilience so that portions of the wire will yield to an operating force to permit opening of the hook and which will return the hooks to original overlapping condition when the force is removed. The hangers shown are the type that include a yoke that fits into the shoulders of a garment placed on the hanger and the hooks extend upwardly from the upper, inner ends of the yoke halves so that they will extend out of the neck of a garment hung on the hanger. An interlocking arrangement in that connection between yoke and hooks serves to lend rigidity to the hanger and to provide an easy means for operating the hooks while permitting the hooks to open by pivotal action.

' United States Patent [191 Thomas [111 3,831,826 [451 Aug. 27, 1974GARMENT HANGER [76] Inventor: Leonard L. Thomas, 375 N. West CypressSt., Orange, Calif. 92668 [22] Filed: Aug. 10, 1972 [21] Appl. No.:279,398

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No.263,727, June 8,

1972, abandoned.

[52] US. Cl 223/88, 211/113, 211/119 [51] Int. Cl. A47j 51/098 [58]Field of Search 223/85, 88, 89, 92, 94;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,892,678 1/1933 McIntyre eta1. 24/237 2,046,654 7/1936 Rosen 223/88 2,877,940 3/1959 Pressler223/88 3,008,614 11/1961 Ullery 223/88 3,494,517 2/1970 Hart 223/94Primary Examiner--Ge0rge H. Krizmanich Attorney, Agent, or Firm-GroverA. Frater ABSTRACT A garment hanger is disclosed which includes twooppositely directed hanger hooks. The hooks are biased in overlappingcondition so that the hanger will not be pulled from the rod as anincident to removal of adjacent hangers and which cannot be jostled offof the rod on which it is placed. A biasing arrangement urges the hooksto overlapping relationship and a means-is provided for overcoming thatbias to move the hooks apart so that it can be installed on and removedfrom a rod by a vertical movement. In. preferred form the hanger is madeof wire which has sufiicient resilience so that portions of the wirewill yield to an operating force to permit opening of the hook and whichwill return the hooks to original overlapping condition when the forceis removed. The hangers: shown are the type that include a yoke thatfits into the shoulders of a garment placed on the hanger and the hooksextend upwardly from the upper, inner ends of the yoke halves so thatthey will extend out of the neck of a garment hung on the hanger. Aninterlocking arrangement in that connection between yoke and hooksserves to lend rigidity to the hanger and to provide an easy means foroperating the hooks while permitting the hooks to open by pivotalaction.

5 Claiirs, 14 Drawing Figures GARMENT HANGER This application is acontinuation-in-part of my application Ser. No. 263,727 filed June 8,1972, now abandoned.

This invention relates to improvements in garment hangers and it relatesparticularly to hangers of the kind that fit within the shoulders of thegarment and are suspended by a hook portion that protrudes from thegarment neck. 7

Most shoulder-type garment hangers are provided with means by which itmay be hung from a bar or pole. That means commonly comprises a hookshaped approximately like a question mark. The hook being open at oneside facilitates its being placed over and suspended from a holding rodby a generally lateral motion. That arrangement facilitates both thesuspension on and the removal from the rod. However, unwanted removal isalso facilitated by that design and the ease with which the garmenthangers are jostled off of clothing racks in clothing transporters anddrycleaning establishment conveyors and the like has been a seriousproblem. The commercial handler of garments also suffers the problemthat friction between garments packed too closely on a rod results ininadvertent unhooking of adjacent hangers when one garment in a seriesis removed. That problem is rather universal and is one that plagueseven the homeowner with a well-filled clothes closet.

A related problem, at least for the commercial garment handler, themanufacturer, the garment retailer and the garment cleaner, is the factthat the conventional hooked hanger is not reversible. In manycircumstances the direction in which the hook opening faces is importantand in those circumstances the fact that the hanger hook has a specificorientation is a disadvantage.

A number of attempts have been made to find solutions to thesedifficulties and while a number of solutions have been provided, thosesolutions have generally been excessively costly or are useful only inlimited circumstances.

The invention provides a garment hanger that solves these variousproblems in substantial degree for the majority of hanger applicationsand it solves them at minimum cost. In this connection an object of theinvention is to provide a hanger that can be produced at a costcomparable to the cost of hangers with conventional hooks, which isarranged so that it cannot be jostled or shaken off a rod, which isarranged so that it will not-be pulled off as an incident to removal ofadjacent garments, and which is symmetrically arranged to eliminate theneed for orientation.

In connection with the latter feature, the invention provides a hangerwhich is moved vertically to install it on and remove it from a rodrather than laterally as in the case of the conventional hook-typehanger. Two hooks are employed in the invention and the hooks areoppositely directed and overlapping. As a consequence, the hanger cannotbe hung on a rod or removed from a rod by simple lateral movement of thehanger relative to the rod nor can it be removed by a rotationalmovement in the plane perpendicular to the rod. To permit attachment toa rod or removal from it, the hooks must be moved relatively so thatthey no longer overlap. In a preferred form of the invention, the hangeris arranged so that both hooks must be moved relative to the remainderof the hanger. The preferred embodiment is arranged so that thatrelative movement can be accomplished easily by force application at anumber of points to the end that its attachment to and removal from arod is accomplished as easily, and sometimes more easily, than theconventional hanger.

Hangers provided by the invention can be produced in a number ofdifferent forms. It is particularly adapted to production in wire formas a direct replacement for prior art wire hangers in the garmentmanufacturing and drycleaning industries. It is in these applications inwhich ease and handling and cost are most important. It is also adaptedto the production of plastic hangers and to hangers made partly of metaland partly of plastic.

Three embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing. In two embodiments a wire hanger has been selected forillustration because of the importance of the wire form. The thirdembodiment is an all plastic hanger.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a wire garment hanger embodying theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a pictorial view of the upper portion of the hanger shownenlarged and with its two hooks in overlapping condition;

FIG. 3 is a pictorial view of the portion of the hanger shown in FIG. 2in the condition in which the two hooks have been moved out ofoverlapping condition;

FIG. 4 is a view in side elevation of an alternative form of garmenthanger shown with its hooks in overlapping relation;

FIG. 5 is a view in side elevation of the garment hanger of FIG. 4 withits books moved out of overlapping relationship as a result of itsactuating elements having been squeezed together;

FIG. 6 is a view in side elevation of the same hanger with its hooks outof overlapping condition as a result of pressure applied to the yoke andcrossbar regions of the hanger;

FIGS. 7 and 8 are views in end elevation of the garment hangers of FIGS.1 and 4, respectively;

FIGS. 9 and 10 are views in front elevation of a plastic hanger with itshooks closed and opened, respectively;

FIG. 11 is a pictorial view of the upper, central portion of the hangerof FIGS. 9 and 10;

FIG. 12 is a view in front elevation of a fragment of a hanger having amodified yoke and crossbar;

FIG. 13 is a view in front elevation of the hanger of FIGS. 9, l0 and 11in relaxed condition prior to assembly; and

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 14-14 of FIG. 13.

Both of the coat hangers shown in the drawings of FIGS. 1 through 8 areformed from a single length of wire. However, to facilitate descriptionand understanding the various parts of the hanger are separately namedand identified. Thus, the hanger 10 of FIG. 1 comprises a first hook 12which opens to the right in the drawing and it comprises a secondsimilar hook 14 which opens to the left. These two hooks lie insubstantially parallel planes. Each hook continues from its end pointupward slightly so that the book form is shaped and then extends aroundand down to a point substantially beneath the uppermost part of the hookwhere it continues on into what is here called a grip member. Hook 12continues on into grip 16 and hook 14 continues as grip 18. The gripsinclude an upper portion that is generally tangent to the hook at itslower side, then each is bent downwardly to form two opposing gripmembers that can be squeezed between the users thumb and forefinger. Thegrip is not essential but it is preferred and is included in thepreferred embodiment. At the lower end, the two grip members continueinto respectively associated halves of the hanger yoke. At this pointthe wire is bent hairpin fashion. The two hairpins are interlocked sothat the bend of one is located between the legs of the other. Forconvenience these hairpins are considered to be the upper, inner part ofthe yoke portion of the hanger on which the garments shoulders rest.There are two yoke halves, numbered 18 and 20 in FIG. 1. Yoke half 18 isan extension of the wire from the grip member 16 and yoke half 20 is anextension of the wire end that forms hook 14 and grip 18. At theirlower, outer ends the two yoke halves are bent downwardly through a bendapproaching 180 where the two wire ends come together in the crossbarportion 22 of the hanger.

While the wire form is preferred, the invention can be produced of othermaterials and the various portions need not be formed integrally withone another. Accordingly, from a functional standpoint, the bend wherethe yoke half 18 merges into the crossbar 22 is called a connectionpoint and is labeled 24 in FIG. 1. Similarly, connection 26 is thatportion of the wire that connects the yoke half 20 to the crossbar 22.While in wire form the upper ends of the yoke halves are shapedsubstantially like hairpins, in other forms of the invention that partof the structure may not look like a hairpin. It is the fact that themembers form slots, and that each is free to move in the slot of theother, which more generally describes the invention.

It will be apparent that the hanger will be operative if the slots arenot the same size and, in fact, one slot can be reduced to the point ofnonexistence while the other is increased. Thus, in one extreme designthere is only one slot or hairpin. However, the form shown in which thetwo structures are arranged so that the slots are of equal length is thepreferred form.

The hook grip means and slot arrangement is shown in enlarged form inFIGS. 2 and 3. Hook l2 begins at an end point 28 and then extends upslightly and is bent around in what in this embodiment is substantiallycircular form. At the lowest point the wire extends off at 30 in thedirection of the hook opening in the beginning of the grip member. Itthen is turned downwardly at 32 in what in this embodiment is asubstantially vertical section but which can have most any shape. Theyoke member 18 at the lower right merges into the hairpin portion whichis here called an initial section 34. This section extends in thedirection opposite the direction of the opening of hook 12. At a pointin the region below the highest point of the hook, the yoke member isbent up at 36 through an angle of approximately 180 into a continuingsection of the hairpin 38 which merges into the grip member 32. Thus,the sections 34 and 38 serve as the walls of a slot. Yoke half 20extends toward that slot from the left. It continues through a section40 which serves as the initial wall of a second slot or as the initialleg of a second hairpin which is bent at 42 through a slot formed bywire sections 34 and 38. The wire is bent at 42 through an angle ofsubstantially 180 to a section 44 which serves as the other wall of thesecond slot or as the second leg of the second hairpin. The two slots ortwo hairpins are substantially the same length and the one at the lefturges into the grip section 46 which is bent into a horizontal section48 which merges into the second hook 14. That book as best shown in FIG.3 terminates at an end 50 such that the second hook 14 opens in thedirection opposite the direction in which the hook 12 is open.

FIG. 2 shows those two hooks in a first position in which they areoverlapping. Mounted on a pole that extends through both hooks, thehanger cannot be removed until those hooks are moved apart to a secondposition shown in FIG. 3 where they are no longer overlapping but areseparated sufficiently to accommodate the hanger rod or other mountingelement. In FIG. 3 the two yoke halves 18 and 20 have been moved towardone another. The grip members 32 and 46 are much closer to one anotherthan they were in FIG. 2. The bend 42 of yoke half 20 has been moved tothe right sufficiently so that it no longer is disposed within the slotformed by wire portions 34 and 38. Similarly, the bend 36 has been movedto the left sufficiently so that it no longer lies between wire section44 and the wire section 40 which is hidden from view in FIG. 3 by thewire section 34 which lies in front of it. This result can beaccomplished by gripping or pinching the grip members 32 and 46together. A means is provided in the invention by which the hooks andthe other structures are biased to the position shown in FIG. 1 suchthat upon release of the forces applied to grip members 32 and 46, thehanger will return to the condition shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 7 is an end view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 as viewed from theright side in the drawing. The wire is bent so that the wire sections 34and 38 lie on opposite sides of the vertical center plane of the hanger.Similarly, the wire sections 44 and 40 are bent so that they lie onopposite sides of the vertical center line. This feature is necessary toavoid interference as action is taken to separate the hooks from thefirst position to the second position. Except for that minordisplacement, the whole of the hanger lies approximately in the sameplane. However, it will be observed in FIG. 7 that the two hooks l2 and14 lie substantially parallel and they merge into their respectivehairpin portions without being crossed over. That is not true with theother embodiment. That embodiment shown in FIGS. 4, 5, 6 and 8 has thetwo hairpin portions arranged so that one lies in the plane of thehanger and the other lies in the plane transverse to the plane of thehanger. Moreover, at a point above the grip members 60 and 62, the hooks64 and 66 are crossed over one another. This feature lends greaterstability and rigidity to the finished product although it is notessential. In FIG. 4 the end 68 of the left hook lies in front of theend 70 of the right hook 64 just as in the case of the hangerillustrated in FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 7. However, whereas that previouslydescribed hook had the lower end of its right hook in back of the lowerend of the left hook, the embodiment of FIGS. 4, 5, 6 and 8 has thelower end of its right hook in front of the lower end of the left book.

The grip portion of these two embodiments are similar. In FIG. 4 thelower end of the hook 66 continues off at a tangent toward the directionto which that hook is open in a section 70 which forms the upper end ofthe left grip member. At the lower end, that grip member continues oninto a section 72, called a continuing section, at the upper inner endof the left yoke half 74. Section 72 continues to a 180 bend 76 whichcontinues into a lower slot section 78. The other finger grip 60 has anupper portion 80 which leads into a vertical portion 82 which connectsto the continuing upper inner section of the right yoke half. Thatsection is numbered 84. At its left end, it is bent in a 180 turn lyingin a plane perpendicular to the viewer in the drawing and what is calledthe initial part of the slot or hairpin is hidden from view behindsection 84. It continues on into the right yoke half 86. Yoke half 86 isconnected at 88 to the lower crossbar 90.

Some means is provided in the hanger for biasing the structure so thatthe hooks have the initial interlocking relationship shown in FIGS. 1, 2and 4. A resilient bias is preferred and that bias can be built into thehanger by forming it of resilient materials. In the embodiment shown thewire is sufficiently hard and has a spring quality sufficient so thatthe wire will have the form shown in FIGS. 1 or 2 when relaxed. The wirewill return to that shape notwithstanding that it has been bentsufficiently to move the hooks to the non-overlapping second positionshown in FIGS. 3, 5 and 6. In both of these embodiments the neededresilience occurs in the yoke halves and in the cross member and in theconnection portions of the wire between the crossbar and the yokehalves. In other embodiments only one of these several resilient pointsneed be provided. However, in the preferred embodiment all three areresilient whereby the hooks can be opened to the nonoverlapping positionby a force applied in any of a number of ways to the hanger. The gripmembers are specifically provided so that they can be squeezed togetherto open the hook. If the hanger wire is uniform in its compositionthroughout its length, then the cross member having the longest lengthand providing the least resistance to bending will bend as shown in FIG.5. The hanger of FIG. 4 is shown in FIG. 5 but the distortion there seenis equally applicable to the hanger of FIG. 1. However, it is notnecessary that the force be applied by squeezing together the gripmembers. The hooks can be forced apart by squeezing the yoke toward thecross member as illustrated in F IG. 6. That can be done either bycausing flexure at the connection or by bending the two yoke halves. Inthe condition shown in FIG. 6, both the connection point 88 and the yokehalf 86 have flexed as the yoke is drawn closer to the cross member 90.

It is important that the pivoting action occur at a point removed asubstantial distance from the hooks and that it is a pivoting actionthat separates the hooks. That arrangement provides a large ratio ofhook movement to flexure movement in the yoke halves, or in the crossbaror in the connections between yoke halves and crossbar. The yokes areinterconnected at their inner upper ends to limit hook movement and tolend stability and rigidity but the interconnection does not prevent thepivoting action on a long lever arm.

Attention is invited to FIGS. 2 and 3. It will be apparent that thebends 42 and 36 could have been made in the opposite direction so thatin FIG. 2 the wire portion 34 would lie above wire portion 38 and sothat wire portion 40 would lie above wire portion 44. That kind ofconstruction has an advantage in certain circumstances because theeffect of that arrangement is to place the grip members 32 and 46 inposition to limit the length of the slot in which those bends 36 and 4may travel. That arrangement is entirely satisfactory for mostapplications. However, doing that would foreclose the bend 36 and 42from moving entirely out of the slot in which they are disposed in FIG.2. This condition is illustrated in FIG. 3 where bend 36 extends to theleft substantially beyond the end of wire section 44 and where bend 42extends substantially to the right of the end of wire section 38. Thelong pivot radius and the absence of a limitation on the degree in whichthose wire bends can move means that: the requisite degree of relativemovement of the hook need not be accomplished by movement of both hooksbut can, in fact, be accomplished entirely by movement of one hook. Thismeans that the hanger can be operated by gripping the crossbar and onlyone yoke half. This mode of handling insures that the hanger can beattached to and removed from a rod with one hand without need toposition the hand on the grip members. The grip members are included inthe preferred embodiment for several reasons including the reason thattheir inclusion makes it possible to grasp a number of hangers in onehand and by thumb and squeezing motion open all of them for simultaneousattachment to, or removal from, a rod.

The two embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 8 are arranged sothat both of their yokes terminate in hairpins at their upper inner end.The hairpins are interlocked so that the U-turn of each is free to movethrough the slot defined by the legs of the other when it is desired toseparate the hanger hooks. In an alternative construction, only one yokehalf is provided with such a hairpin. The upper inner end of the otheryoke is provided with a fastening element, such for example as a pin,which simply extends laterally through the hairpin of the other and isformed so that it is retained in that hairpin. This arrangement is shownin the embodiment of FIGS. 9 through 14 although it is shown in a formthat is somewhat different in that the hanger is made of plastic and inthat an elongated slot has been substituted for the hairpin shape whichwas selected for illustration in the wire hangers.

Referring to FIGS. 9 and 10, the hanger there shown comprises two hooks.The one toward the viewer in the drawings opens at the viewers left andis numbered The hook behind opens to the viewers right and is numbered102. Both of them are formed as segments of a circle and extend forslightly more than half of the circumference of that circle so thattheir upper ends overlap. For identification, the upper end of hook 100is designated 104 and the upper end of hook 102 is designated 106. Attheir lower ends both hooks continue substantially tangentially for theshort distance and are then turned downwardly into a vertical section106 in the case of hook 100 and 108, in the case of hook 102, to form apair of grips which the user squeezes together to open the hooks 100 and102. At its lower end the grip member 106 is integrally formed with theupper inner end 110 of a left yoke half 112. The lower end of gripmember 108 is integrally formed with the upper inner end 114 of theright yoke half 116. At their lower ends the yoke halves 116 and 112 arejoined by a cross member 118.

The hanger has the shape shown in FIG. 13 when it is relaxed. It will beapparent, since none of its sections are overlapping except for a slightenlargement to form a head on the pin 120, that the hanger can be moldedin one piece. In FIG. 13 the cross member 118 is bowed upwardly inrelaxed condition. In the assembled condition of the hanger shown inFIGS. 9 and 11), that cross member is forced to a substantially straightconfiguration. That creates a bias that has the direction to urge thehooks apart as they are shown in FIG. 13 opposite the kind of separationthat must be accomplished to force the hooks open as shown in FIG. toenable them to pass over a hanger bar.

There is another bias provided in the construction which tends toprovide the same result and to keep the pin 120 at the right end, in theFigures, of the slot 122. Comparison of FIGS. 9 and 13 will show thatthe angle formed by the cross member 118 and each of the yokes 112 and116 is more acute in FIG. 9 than it is in FIG. 14. A hinge is providedat the junction between the cross member 118 and each of the two yokes112 and 116. In this embodiment that hinge is formed by reducing thethickness of the yoke and cross arms at their juncture. This region isdesignated 130 at the juncture of yoke 112 and cross arm 118 and it isdesignated 132 at the junction of the cross member and the other yoke.This hinge is self biased toward the open position shown in FIG. 13 andit is closed somewhat against that bias in FIGS. 9 and 10. Inthisembodiment the construction is such that the hanger is more easilyflexed at those hinged portions than at any point along the yoke and atany point along the cross member 118 after the latter has been flexed toits substantially straight shape so that when it is desired to open thehooks 100 and 102, this is accomplished by squeezing together crossmember 118 and one or both of the yoke members to accomplish a hingeaction in the hinge regions 130 and 132. The change in shape representedby the difference between FIGS. 9 and 10 can be accomplished by pinchingthe grip members 106 and 108 together or by directly squeezing one orboth of the yokes toward the cross member.

In this embodiment the pin 120 is formed integrally with the main bodyof the hanger and a button head 140 is formed on the end of that pin.Plastic molding technology permits forming such a head with littledifficulty. As a result it is possible to mold the entire hanger in onepiece. To facilitate assembly and to permit use of a larger head, thisembodiment has its slot enlarged at its left end as shown at 150. It isenlarged to a dimension only slightly smaller than the diameter of thehead 140 so that the head can be forced through it with ease. A numberof plastic materials, including polypropylene, have physical qualitiespermitting such a construction.

The yoke halves 112 and 116 are specially shaped. Their upper walls arenotched to provide cutouts 152 to accommodate shoulder straps. Thisupper region of the yoke halves is advantageously rather rigid so a web154 has been left between the heavier upper and lower walls so that inthis area a cross-sectional view would reveal an I-beam shape. The webis omitted in the lower regions of the yoke so that relative movementbetween the upper and lower walls is possible. In particular, theseparation between them can change. The separation does change whenpressure is applied to separate the hanger hooks. Thus, in thisembodiment, the motion that permits pin 120 to move in slot 122 occursat crossbar 118, hinges 130 and 132 and between the walls of the yoke.This freedom of movement insures that any tendency of the pin to bind inthe slot is minimized and, when freedom of movement is provided at allof these points, is virtually eliminated.

In FIG. 14, the hook is shown to be only half as wide as the yoke andcrossbar portion of the hanger so that the complete assembly with itstwo hooks has uniform thickness over all. That is not essential. It maybe desirable to increase the width in the yoke or crossbar areas tominimize creasing of garments. On the other hand, if cost reductionthrough material saving is important, the width of the yoke or crossbaror both could be reduced.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 12 the crossbar member 142 issufficiently heavy so that it is relatively stiff and would ordinarilybe formed straight without the bend that cross member is shown to havein FIG. 13. In such a hanger, the yoke portion 144 would be made so thatit flexes more easily. However, to avoid undue distortion in the shapeof the yoke this modification also includes the hinge feature 146 whichis accomplished by reducing the wall thickness of the yoke and crossmember at the junction. Ease of bending is only part of the reason forproviding for flexure at more than one point and over a substantialportion of a bending members length. Proper and convenient operation ofthe hanger requires that its hooks be biased to overlapping condition.The bias can be lost if the yield point of the plastic is exceeded atthe place where it bends or if bending is so localized that the materialmight become fatigued. To foreclose that from happening the hinges arearranged so that their spring rate increases greatly, after a smalldegree of flexure, to a value above the spring rate in a member thatbends over a substantial length. In FIG. 12 that member is yoke 144. Inthe embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 9 there are two such members. They arethe cross member and the yoke.

Another requirement is that neither the crossbar or the yoke changes itsshape excessively during flexure to open the hooks. The wire hangerspresent little difficulty in this respect. It is not a major problem inthe plastic forms except that a noticeable change in shape on bending toopen the hooks might be interpreted as a lack of quality. The preferredform is shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. The upper wall 116A and lower wall 116Bare separated at the outer end of the yoke and are not connected by theweb 154. Upon being bent to separate the hooks, wall 1168 is placed intension and lower wall 1168 is compressed. The lower wall bends more andit moves closer to wall 116. The major distortion appears in the lowerwall where it is less noticeable.

Although I have shown and described certain specific embodiments of myinvention, I am fully aware that many modifications thereof arepossible. My invention, therefore, is not to be restricted exceptinsofar as is necessitated by the prior art.

I claim:

1. A garment hanger comprising a pair of hooks lying in substantiallyparallel planes and opening in opposite directions and mounted forrelative movement in the direction of said planes between the firstrelative position in which the hook ends overlap and a second relativeposition in which the hooks are spaced apart facing one another, andmeans for urging said hooks to said first position; and

means for limiting relative movement of said hook ends between saidfirst and second relative position comprising the combination of a slotin the form of an elongated hole fonned in a member fixed to one hookand a fastening element carried by a member fixed to the other hook andextending through said slot whereby the degree of relative hook movementis limited by the degree in which the fastening element is moveable inthe slot.

2. The invention defined in claim 1 which further comprises:

a yoke shaped to fit within the shoulders of a garment and formed of twoyoke halves, said hooks being connected to respectively associated onesof said yoke halves and extending upwardly therefrom whereby the hooksextend upwardly from the neck portion of a garment hung on the yoke; and

a crossbar the outer ends of which are connected to the outer ends ofrespectively associated ones of said crossbar;

said slot being formed in the inner end of one of said yoke halves andsaid fastening element being carried by the inner end of the other ofsaid yoke halves.

3. The invention defined in claim 2 in which said hanger has itscrossbar and yoke integrally formed, the yoke in the region of itsconnection to the crossbar being formed with separate upper and lowerwalls one of which is placed in tension, and the other of which isplaced in compression as an incident to bending of the hanger toseparate its hooks.

4. A garment hanger comprising a pair of hooks lying in substantiallyparallel planes and opening in opposite directions and mounted forrelative movement in the direction of said planes between the firstrelative position in which the hook ends overlap and a second relativeposition in which the hooks are spaced apart facing one another, andmeans for urging said hooks to said first position; and

means for limiting relative movement of said hook ends between saidfirst and second relative position comprising the combination of a slotformed in a member fixed to one book and a fastening element carried bya member fixed to the other hook and extending through said slot; and ayoke shaped to fit within the shoulders of a garment and formed of twoyoke halves, said hooks being connected to respectively associated onesof said yoke halves and extending upwardly therefrom whereby the hooksextend upwardly from the neck portion of a garment hung on the yoke; anda crossbar the outer ends of which are connected to the outer ends ofrespectively associated ones of said crossbar; said slot being formed inthe inner end of one of said yoke halves and said fastening elementbeing carried by the inner end of the other of said yoke halves; andsaid hanger having its yoke and crossbar integrally formed of plastic,the crossbar having intermal bias to urge it to bowed shape, bowedupwardly in its central region toward the inner ends of said yokehalves. 5. The invention defined in claim 4 in which the connectionsbetween the yoke halves and crossbar have the form of resilient hinges.

* =l =l =l-

1. A garment hanger comprising a pair of hooks lying in substantiallyparallel planes and opening in opposite directions and mounted forrelative movement in the direction of said planes between the firstrelative position in which the hook ends overlap and a second relativeposition in which the hooks are spaced apart facing one another, andmeans for urging said hooks to said first position; and means forlimiting relative movement of said hook ends between said first andsecond relative position comprising the combination of a slot in theform of an elongated hole formed in a member fixed to one hook and afastening element carried by a member fixed to the other hook andextending through said slot whereby the degree of relative hook movementis limited by the degree in which the fastening element is moveable inthe slot.
 2. The invention defined in claim 1 which further comprises: ayoke shaped to fit within the shoulders of a garment and formed of twoyoke halves, said hooks being connected to respectively associated onesof said yoke halves and extending upwardly therefrom whereby the hooksextend upwardly from the neck portion of a garment hung on the yoke; anda crossbar the outer ends of which are connected to the outer ends ofrespectively associated ones of said crossbar; said slot being formed inthe inner end of one of said yoke halves and said fastening elementbeing carried by the inner end of the other of said yoke halves.
 3. Theinvention defined in claim 2 in which said hanger has its crossbar andyoke integrally formed, the yoke in the region of its connection to thecrossbar being formed with separate upper and lower walls one of whichis placed in tension, and the other of which is placed in compression asan incident to bending of the hanger to separate its hooks.
 4. A garmenthanger comprising a pair of hooks lying in substantially parallel planesand opening in opposite directions and mounted for relative movement inthe direction of said planes between the first relative position inwhich the hook ends overlap and a second relative position in which thehooks are spaced apart facing one another, and means for urging saidhooks to said first position; and means for limiting relative movementof said hook ends between said first and second relative positioncomprising the combination of a slot formed in a member fixed to onehook and a fastening element carried by a member fixed to the other hookand extending through said slot; and a yoke shaped to fit within theshoulders of a garment and formed of two yoke halves, said hooks beingconnected to respectively associated ones of said yoke halves andextending upwardly therefrom whereby the hooks extend upwardly from theneck poRtion of a garment hung on the yoke; and a crossbar the outerends of which are connected to the outer ends of respectively associatedones of said crossbar; said slot being formed in the inner end of one ofsaid yoke halves and said fastening element being carried by the innerend of the other of said yoke halves; and said hanger having its yokeand crossbar integrally formed of plastic, the crossbar having intermalbias to urge it to bowed shape, bowed upwardly in its central regiontoward the inner ends of said yoke halves.
 5. The invention defined inclaim 4 in which the connections between the yoke halves and crossbarhave the form of resilient hinges.